Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards. The prize was originally sponsored by Mercury Communications, a brand owned by Cable & Wireless, from which the prize gets its name. It was later sponsored by Technics (1998 to 2001), Panasonic (2002 and 2003), and the Nationwide Building Society (2004 to 2008). Barclaycard became the Prize's sponsor in 2009. Any album released by a British or Irish artist, or by a band where over 50% of the members are British or Irish, may be submitted for consideration by their record label. The shortlist is chosen by an independent panel of musicians, music presenters, music producers, music journalists, festival organisers and other figures in the music industry in the UK and Ireland. The prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, urban, dance, jazz, blues, electronica and classical. Presentation of the awards usually takes place at an Awards Show in October, after the shortlist is announced at the Album of the Year Launch in September. It is often observed that bands whose albums are shortlisted, or win the prize, experience a large increase in album sales, particularly for lesser known acts. Each shortlisted artist receives a specially commissioned 'Albums of the Year' trophy at the Awards Show. Unlike some other music awards, the overall winner of the Mercury Prize also receives a cheque; as of 2014, the value of the prize money is £20,000. The winner also receives an additional winner's trophy. To date, PJ Harvey and James Harrison are the only artists to have won the award on more than one occasion, Harvey in 2001 and 2011 and Harrison has won it four times in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Harvey was also the first female solo artist to receive the award and ties with Radiohead as the most shortlisted artist, although Radiohead has never won the prize. Harrison was the first to ever win back-to-back prizes and claimed after winning it in 2015 that it was the most prestigious honour a British musician could earn. He has amassed £80,000 from winning all of which has been donated to charity. Winners and Nominees Artists with multiple wins ;4 wins *James Harrison ;2 wins *PJ Harvey Artists with multiple nominations Totals listed are for bands or artists nominated more than once under the same name. It does not include appearances on compilations (e.g. Artists for War Child) or individuals nominated separately as a soloist and group member (e.g. Robbie Williams for his Life thru a Lens and Take That's Everything Changes). ;7 nominations * James Harrison ;5 nominations * Radiohead ;4 nominations * Arctic Monkeys * PJ Harvey ;3 nominations * Bat for Lashes * David Bowie * Coldplay * Dizzee Rascal * Elbow * Florence and the Machine * Laura Marling * Primal Scream * Pulp ;2 nominations * Adele * alt-J * Guy Barker * Basement Jaxx * James Blake * Blur * Anna Calvi * Eliza Carthy * The Chemical Brothers * Doves * Everything Everything * Foals * Ghostpoet * Richard Hawley * Jon Hopkins * Michael Kiwanuka * Leftfield * Manic Street Preachers * Laura Mvula * Oasis * Beth Orton * Polar Bear * The Prodigy * Savages * The Streets * Suede * John Tavener * Kate Tempest * Underworld * Villagers * Paul Weller * Amy Winehouse * Wolf Alice * The xx